5 Strategies for a successful Guerilla SMS Marketing

Guerilla marketing surprises. Not only the consumers. Basically, even the entrepreneurs are always surprised how effective this form of marketing can be. But in order to take this step at all, the supposed courage for the unconventional is necessary. Otherwise, a guerilla campaign can be planned like any other in advance. One who understands their target groups well knows to impress them. A guerilla SMS marketing strategy also combines exciting aspects from the entrepreneur’s point of view: a manageable budget, clearly defined data protection in comparison to social media and, above all, efficiency in terms of accessibility.

What does guerilla SMS have that Social Media doesn’t?

Quite clearly: reach. And that means high-quality customer segmentation and targeted placement of the campaign. While in social networks endless ads are placed in order to get any reaction from the consumers, the SMS ends up exactly where it belongs: With the user who is really interested in it. Not an easy task, especially in guerilla marketing. Usually the recipients of the message don’t even know that they are interested in it immediately. That’s what makes this way of marketing so exciting but also so unpredictable. Nevertheless, anyone trying out unconventional strategies on social media platforms risks losing them somewhere in the multitude of offers. Attracting attention and being irresistibly interesting are the goals of many. Respect for those who make it.

Unfortunately, the great advantage of authenticity in social channels has also suffered greatly in recent years. Users have long been prepared for the fact that behind every post, tutorial and photo there may be only an advertisement that wants to sell something.

In the SMS sector, on the other hand, the surprise effect is still relatively large – provided you do it right.

1st Strategy: The favourable opportunity

Because the campaign should not reach as many contacts as possible, half of which are already an unsuitable target group, the contact database is first cleaned up. Customer segmentation, group management and number validation belong to the high standard of every SMS campaign. This allows invalid phone numbers to be sorted out, interest groups to be grouped together and targeted accordingly.

Ultimately, SMS Marketing fits the budget much better. Providers such as seven.io even offer discounted conditions to major customers with a certain monthly sales volume. Now it is up to the marketing department to pick up the segmented customer group at the ideal contact point of the customer journey.

2nd Strategy: The right time

Another decisive advantage compared to other advertising measures: SMS can be pre-programmed precisely to the minute. The parameters are quickly configured via SMS gateway with API connection. Even international campaigns can be optimally controlled by the time-delayed sending of SMS.

Marketing via SMS can also be adapted to a specific event. In contrast to instant messengers, which depend on Internet access, radio transmission hardly ever suffers from delay. This creates flexibility in your guerilla campaign.

3rd Strategy: The fast number

Print products, outdoor advertising, online advertising – they all have to wait for the consumer’s attention. However, an SMS arrives directly, is displayed immediately and is usually read by the recipient within less than 3 minutes. Hardly any other advertising channel is that fast. Thanks to the nationwide infrastructure of transmission networks, there are hardly any so-called dead spots.

If you are in a hurry with your message, an SMS campaign is a good choice. Spontaneous actions are just as easy as well-prepared ones, which are to be spread however very fast.

4th Strategy: Two-way communication

Reactions to the campaign are not only desired, but extremely important on the part of businesses. Each feedback, each evaluation, each criticism gives information about the success of the campaign, how the image is actually seen and how well the products and achievements arrive at the target group and/or where there is room for improvement. The newspaper advertisement for example is simply put aside, without the advertiser noticing whether the reaction was positive, negative or complete disinterest.

In social media, at least there is the possibility to post comments, to set Likes or other forms of rating. Two-Way-Messaging offers recipients the opportunity to react directly to the received message. Because their response can only be read by the sender itself and not by all the other members of a Facebook group or by the general public, certain topics are addressed more honestly. This gives the company truly evaluable information.

5th Strategy: The relaxed marketing-analysis

Well, how nice it is when the SMS campaign is set up fully automatically and works on its own. Once switched on, marketing strategists can sit back and relax, evaluate data and track success. Each individual guerilla SMS can be monitored via a delivery report. In addition, there are informative analysis tools and graphically illustrated statistics that can be used to target the next campaign even more specifically.

Many of these strategies make do with Bluetooth or Wifi hotspots. Due to the new general data protection regulation, some guerilla SMS campaigns may face great legal challenges, but by no means the end. The possibilities and ideas are there, the success of guerilla marketing is undisputed.

Header picture by VictorHuang via iStock.com